The mission of the Calhoun Gordon Arts Council is to bring the arts to the entire community and to honor the legacy of Roland Hayes. Our vision is to be an be an expert and leading advocate for arts experiences in the region. We will enrich understanding of the arts and of our cultural heritage, reaching and serving a diverse audience. We will honor the past, celebrate the present, and anticipate the future. In 1990, a committee was organized by the Gordon County Chamber of Commerce to advocate the induction of Roland Hayes into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Having been successful in these efforts, the group continued to promote the love of music and spirit of community through annual music festivals. In 1992, the Roland Hayes Guild joined forces with those who wanted to re-activate two organizations, the Calhoun Little Theater and the Calhoun Civic Chorus, both of which had been dormant since the 1970′s. These three organizations came together as the Calhoun Gordon Arts Council, which was incorporated on November 30, 1992. In 1997, the Arts Council purchased downtown Calhoun’s worst eyesore, the historic Rooker Hotel, which had stood vacant for over twenty years. The Arts Council transformed the once-dilapidated building into a beautiful, functional arts center to serve all the people of the community, as well as, out-of-town visitors. The Arts Council continued to grow and develop with additions of the annual Djoeke Gunning Memorial Concert, Arts in the Schools, Pre-School Pops, and other community outreach programs. The Harris Arts Center, which opened in January 2000, includes a visual art gallery, an art studio, music classrooms, meeting facilities, the Roland Hayes Museum, and a spacious catering kitchen. Currently, classes in visual arts, piano, guitar, banjo, violin, woodwinds, ballroom dance and yoga are available. Guided tours are available by appointment. The Milton Ratner Performing Arts Theater and a state-of-the-art 200-seat theater, an art gallery, conference room, and offices were completed in 2004.
